During the Presidential Council meeting on September 24, 1964, the International Committee took leave of a staff member with fifty years service to her credit. Miss M.-L. Compagnon began working with the International Prisoners of War Agency in October 1914, at that time installed in the Rath Museum in Geneva. From 1919 onwards she was a member of the Secretariat staff of the ICRC, which grew in importance progressively with events, e.g.: the Abyssinian war, the Spanish civil war, the Second World War of 1939. At that time Miss Compagnon was working in the Central Agency for Prisoners of War, where she attended to the recording of mail. Later she was attached to the Delegations Bureau. Subsequently she joined the General Secretariat and since 1955 was a member of the Department responsible for the publication of the International Review.

In its number of June last, the International Review mentioned the participation of the Republic of Niger in the Geneva Conventions of August 12, 1949, thus bringing to one hundred the number of countries definitely parties to the Conventions.

At the request of shipowners whose headquarters are at Monaco, the ICRC approached the Algerian Red Crescent, in order to obtain news of the cargo “Hassiblal”, flying the Moroccan flag, which had been seized during the night of October 30–31, 1963, in the port of Nemours in Algeria.

The ICRC started its activity in Cyprus on January 1, 1964 by sending a delegate to Nicosia. Two weeks later, owing to the spreading of the troubles, the ICRC decided to increase its representation and it now numbers two delegates and a secretary. Their mission is, in co-operation with the local Red Cross, to bring assistance and protection to the victims of the events, by basing themselves in particular on article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, relative to conflicts which are not of an international character.